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28 April, 2015

I think all five of us would tell you we feel like we've trudged through valleys and summited mountains these past few weeks. Blogging has fallen to the wayside as I ponder it's place on my list of priorities. I've always promised my husband and children come before this blog, and we've all needed more of each other these weeks.

Last week we wrapped up a sweet, sweet stay with Peter's brother, sister, and two friends who all piled into our home for a three-week holiday in Scotland. We picnicked and climbed rocks at the beach, combed the sand for sea glass and cooked recipes from the heart of India. At night we shared future goals and bottles of ale and life's highs & lows.

We were blessed to recently have been able to have literally thousands of photos taken by Rachel, one of our all-time favourite photographers. Stay tuned for some up-close and personal shots of my main squeeze and me in the Highlands.

We're packing up Ivybank earlier than last year, in hopes of spending less time stressing over packing and cleaning and more time visiting our many favourite pubs & picnic spots. The children have already claimed much of Peter's free time once he bids farewell to academia, with requests to build every Lego set we own and take the kites back to the beach and buy kittens and go swimming.

As much as I hate to leave this house, which has become such a haven of peace & rest to us, where dear friends call around unannounced and drop-in dinner guests are never unwelcome, it feels good to purge and pass on and look to what the future holds with eagerness and anticipation. A lot of the memories and traditions made in Ivybank we hope to carry on to our new home.

In less than a week's time three people stopped by Ivybank to ask if we were leaving this year, and if so, if they could have our house. So, we feel blessed to have landed this gem of a place in a town where housing cost and demand are incredibly high. If you find a good one you keep it, and Ivybank is a good one.

We'll miss the cavernous cracks between the dining room floorboards that seem to swallow an infinite amount of rice, the pink bathtub and the bathroom's laminate flooring, the squeaky floorboard right inside the children's bedroom door. I wonder if our next garden will also be one that feels sunny even on cloudy days, and in Spring smells of lavender and rosemary and thyme, with bees buzzing on every flowering plant.

We'll miss dance parties on our floral living room carpet and poker games in the next room over; date nights on the front stairs and barbecues in the back garden. We'll miss our neighbours and the little grey cat and Minnie the dog five gates down. And the view-- our view! Have I said it's one of the very best in St Andrews? That's not a biased opinion. Ivybank is a good one.

As Peter balances preparing for the new dynamics that will come with and prior to our move, he plans our summer and makes a dozen calls a day and writes twice as many emails between appointments and coursework. It's hard for me to believe he juggling the fullness of life's responsibilities while still managing to not just stay afloat in his coursework, but he's excelling people! And on 25 June he's walking across a stage at the prestigious University of St Andrews and being handed a diploma to be recognised for his diligence and sacrifice and faithfulness. I feel so proud.

Tutorials and lectures are officially complete and in three week's time Peter's dissertation and final essay will be handed in. The magnitude of what it's taken to get to this point makes all of that feel a bit surreal, but nevertheless time ticks on, and it will be here and then I think we'll both breathe a sigh of relief and shed tears over this rich season, closed and complete.

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Hello! I'm a lady named Angela married to a gentleman named Peter. Together we have 3 children and live a life of organised chaos. We were formerly in St Andrews, Scotland and are now in South East London. Thanks for stopping by!